The Day of Charity par excellence

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.  And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.  And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”  But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things. (Luke 14: 1-6)

For the pious Israelites it is hard for them to understand that the Sabbath is made for mankind and not vice versa. Our destiny is not confined to the six days of the week we dedicate to our earthly necessities, but these days nevertheless is a time in which we are tested to see if we love God above all things. This is made all the more evident during our day of rest from our life’s usual business, that is, of the seventh day of the week we dedicate to God. But like all devotions, they must not be reduced to useless displays. The Sabbath, rather, must be the day of charity par excellence. Helping our neighbour on the Sabbath is not only permissible, it is even our duty to do so.